Beneath the Surface
by jaderaid
Summary: Barriss Offee with Boba Fett as a minor character. “We’re losing him!” he heard as if through a dream. Then his heart stopped, and Zeke died. .:SEE MY PROFILE FOR INFORMATION:.
1. Commando

**Beneath the Surface**

**by Jade Rhade**

PROLOG...

Rain hissed as it vaporized on an indigo blade. It fell in torrents, soaking everything clean through. The slightly salty taste on her red lips was the only clue of the warm tears that threatened to overwhelm her. This betrayal cut deeper than the lightsaber she held loosely in her slender hands. The deep purple-blue of the light all but masked the color of the delicate lines tattooed on her hands and face. The fire in her eyes was the same color and intensity as the saber she gripped.

"How could you do this?" she cried, feeling fresh tears building in her eyes. "Zeke, no!" she pleaded.

Seemingly moving of its own accord, the lightsaber batted the ruby blaster bolts out of the air.

The clone approached her mercilessly, cutting loose another hail of bolts that were also batted out of the air.

"I trusted you! Zeke, I was willing to give up everything for you!" Her lower lip trembled, threatening to unleash another wave of tears. "Why?"

His blaster ceased firing for a moment, an eternity. "I have no control over myself," he said softly. "I was bred like this, Barriss! I have to follow orders!"

"No, you don't! You have _free will_, Zeke! Fight it! I won't kill you!"

He twitched violently and raised his rifle.

"No!"

CHAPTER ONE...

REPUBLIC CRUISER _GEMINI'S FIRE_, IN ORBIT AROUND CORUSCANT

(one standard month earlier)

"You thoroughly understand your mission perimeters, Commander?"

"Yes, sir." Recon Commando 5391 'Zeke' stood at attention in full armor, holding his helmet in the crook of his left arm.

"Good. Your identity as a cl- as a soldier of the Republic must not be discovered."

"Yes, sir."

"You'll be disguised as a refugee fleeing Coruscant because of fears of an impending invasion. You are going to seek passage aboard the refugee transport _Beka's Pride_, which will be stopping in several systems. Tutaka One is the last stop. You'll meet up with a Jedi Knight there, who will brief you on any changes."

"Yes, sir."

"Any questions, Commander?"

"Yes, sir." He hesitated. "Wouldn't an ARC be more suited for this particular type of mission?"

"I suppose so, Commander. You'll just have to show that Advanced Recon Commandos aren't all they're cracked up to be."

"Yes, sir."

"Dismissed."

He saluted and left, putting his helmet back on.

Zeke shouldered his way down a busy corridor until he came to the living area, and his assigned quarters. The door hissed closed behind him. A civilian duffel bag sat on the bed, and he frowned. _How am I supposed to fit anything in that?_

The door hissed shut, and Zeke began removing his armor. Bending down to unbuckle his calf-plate, he suddenly went into uncontrollable spasms. He clenched his teeth and put a hand on his heart as he collapsed to a sitting position on the decking. "Ah. Ahhh," he groaned as the pain spread across his chest.

He pulled his shirt off with twitching fingers, revealing a jagged, raised scar running from his left shoulder, across his heart, and down his stomach. If standing with his arms at his sides, the similar scar across his right forearm linked in a line. "Ahhhh!" he wailed through his teeth.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity but was in reality only a minute or so, Zeke felt the pain subside. The scar was a product of a week ago, from his last mission on Xankatra Four. A normal man would still be recovering from his wounds in a hospital, or perhaps in a mental institution because of the trauma.

_Drifting in and out of awareness, Zeke heard the surgeon tell a nurse there was enough scrap metal in him to build a complete astromech droid. "My... team," he groaned before drifting out again._

"_We're losing him!" he heard as if through a dream._

_Then his heart stopped, and Zeke died._

The doctors weren't sure what had brought him back, but a smiling Twi'lek Jedi did.

"_The Force is with you, Commander," she had said when he awoke later. "I stabilized you as they removed the rest of the metal and jump-started your heart. You're lucky to be alive."_

"_My team?" he asked. "RC-5389, RC-5390, and RC-5392?"_

_The rest of his team was not fated to survive that day._

Neither, it seemed, was he. The medical bay was attacked shortly after he spoke with the Twi'lek Jedi. The shuttle they escaped on developed engine problems and crashed back to the surface.

"_Come on!" he shouted through his helmet. "Leave them!"_

"_But they're injured!" the Twi'lek screamed back. "The Separatists will kill them if they're discovered!"_

"_We don't have time! The droids are coming!"_

"_Leave me here!" the Twi'lek yelled._

"_With all due respect, ma'am, I can't." Zeke grabbed her arm and pulled her along with him._

"_No!" he felt the shove of something against him that sent him flying backward. "I won't leave them!" She ran back-_

_And the shuttle exploded. "No!" she screamed, falling to her knees._

"_Come on!" Zeke grabbed her arm and pulled her into the trees to avoid a battalion of battle droids coming to investigate the crash._

They stole a Separatist ship and eventually escaped that planet for Coruscant, where they were nearly pulverized by a turbolaser battery before they could get a message out.

And so here Zeke was, less than a week later, preparing for another mission. This time he had no backup. The men with whom he'd trained his entire life with were gone. And they were never coming back.

And no one shed a tear but Zeke. No one cares about clones- sometimes not even other clones. Zeke did. They were his team.

And they were gone. Blaze, Max, Apollo- all dead. Killed instantly by the exploding droid that had given him that scar.

Shouldering his duffel, into which he had crammed his armor and blaster, Zeke left his quarters behind him. He would complete this mission to the best of his ability, without his team.

After all, he was bred for success.

**A/N: well, that makes a total of seven drafts I've gone through to get here. review and let me know what you think! constructive criticism is appreciated because this is my first SW fic that's ever gone beyond 3 sentences. thanks, all!**


	2. Thoughts from a Jedi

**A/N: in case you've never heard of her before, Barriss Offee is featured in a few SW books. The _Medstar_ Series and the other one i can't remember, about anakin and obi-wan and luminara and barriss on Ansion. Anyway, on to...**

CHAPTER TWO...

TUTAKA ONE

Tutaka One. The most civilized planet in the Tutaka system, which wasn't saying much. It had one major, sprawling city, population of eight billion. The rest of the planet was mostly small villages inhabited by the native species. Roughly humanoid, the Tutakans had gray skin and black hair. The planet was almost completely covered in tropical rainforests and ocean. A small village was near one of the larger rainforests, where Tutakan children ran down the dusty dirt paths that served as streets. A roughly a mile away was a small wooden hovel tucked on the edge of the trees.

This hovel belonged to Barriss Offee, Jedi Knight in the service of the Republic. She sat cross-legged on the floor mat that served as her bed, thinking.

Three months. Three months, and still no contact from the Jedi Council. The Separatist base still moved like clockwork, the village a mile away was the same as it had always been. Everything was as it should be, except for Barriss.

Seemingly forgotten by the rest of the galaxy, she had been stationed here exactly twelve standard weeks ago. Her last transmission was heavily encrypted, telling her to hold her position, wait for further orders, and not to send out any messages. That last message was from two months ago.

Sighing, Barriss got up and walked over to the receiver, expecting the usual NO NEW MESSAGES to flash at her, as it had for the last two months. She blinked in surprise. She was _not_ expecting this.

Your backup is arriving. He should set down on the planet by the time you get this transmission. Clone Recon Commando 531-991. He will assist you and brief you on your new mission. Turn on your tracking device, and he will find you. You must continue to keep your identity secret. Hold your position. THIS MESSAGE WILL SELF ERASE. DO NOT RESPOND.

Barriss's initial burst of joy was tempered somewhat when she played the message over in her head. _He? Only one clone? What good are one clone and one Jedi going to do against a base full of Separatists?_

She frowned and turned on her tracking device, a small round machine she kept next to the receiver. It began to let out a small _beep, beep, beep, beep..._

_At least I know that they know I'm still here_, she thought to herself wearily. _About time_.

Barriss drew her lightsaber and ignited it, looking deep into its indigo blade, searching for... what? Herself? The truth? An answer? She shut down the blade and clipped it on her belt. Almost as a second thought she swept the still beeping tracker into a pocket as she left the hovel and entered the trees behind. After walking a dozen yards, she passed through two trees and came to a small clearing, surrounded by trees.

She walked to the center of it and stood there, simply taking in the beauty of the tiny wildflowers littering the ground, the huge trees that had been growing for millennia or longer. She closed her eyes and exhaled, feeling the Force penetrate her body and surround her. She was one with the Force.

Her eyes snapped open; she drew and ignited her lightsaber in the same breath. She bent her knees and held her saber in a loose guard position with both hands, right hand higher than the left. Slowly she raised the tip of the blade until it faced straight up in an honorary salute.

Slowly, she moved it from right to left, still facing upward. Faster, faster she moved the blade until it looked like a solid bar of energy in front of her, twisting her body from side to side.

Then she moved her feet, hopping from side to side in tune with the saber. She brought it up, then down in a diagonal chopping motion. Up, down, up, down.

Impossibly fast, she whirled the lightsaber in a rapidly spinning circle of light, and then-

She jumped high into the air, bringing the saber down against an invisible foe. In her mind she pictured a squad of battle-droids in the clearing. With one flick of her wrist she cut off one's head before her feet touched the ground.

Then they charged at her, firing blasters from all sides. Up, down, up, she deflected the invisible bolts back at their owners. Then a bounty hunter charged at her, vibroblade swinging. The energy field around the blade kept her lightsaber from cutting through it, but there was no such field protecting the hand holding it.

_Huuuuum_ went the lightsaber as it sliced through the wrist. The bounty hunter collapsed, clutching the stump of his arm. She brought the blade down hard on his exposed head.

_Blam, blam, blam!_ Super Battle Droids ran at her from all sides, firing with their blaster-arms.

Barriss leaped into the air and sent out a Force-wave, knocking them back to the ground. Before they could get to their feet, she reached with the Force and crushed their chests with an invisible hand.

She stood in the middle of the grove, and let the Force drain out of her until she was just Barriss Offee, Jedi Knight, no longer an extension of that mystical energy field. She deactivated her lightsaber and took a breath, wiping sweat from her face with her sleeve. And then she sensed a man watching her silently.

Fast as blink, the lightsaber was up and ignited again. "Who're you?" she demanded.

"RC-5391," he answered, grinning. "In case you've never seen one before, I'm a clone."

Her mind caught up with her reflexes, and she saw that he wore the same face as the dozens she had patched up on Drongar. "Sorry," she said, deactivating the lightsaber and clipping it on her belt. "My name is Barriss Offee, Jedi Knight. Come on, I'll show you where you'll be staying."


	3. Battle Droids!

CHAPTER THREE...

TUTAKA ONE SEPARATIST BASE

"Jedi? Here?" the Niemodian cried. "How is that possible? Destroy them! Immediately!"

"Yes sir," the SBD said. "We'll find the Jedi."

-xXx-

TUTAKA ONE

"What's been happening in the galaxy?" Barriss asked. "For the last three months I've been stuck in this middle-of-nowhere with no Holo-Net or anything."

"What would a Jedi want to know?" Zeke sat across for her on a small rug that was surprisingly comfortable.

"Anything. Everything." Barriss looked at him, indigo eyes burning. "What's been happening with the war?"

"General Kenobi and Jedi Skywalker have killed Count Dooku," Zeke announced. "When they rescued the Supreme Chancellor."

"Truly?" Barriss broke into a wide smile. "That's wonderful!" She paused, smile evaporating. "Then why is the war still going on? With its main leader killed, what keeps the Separatists from surrendering?"

"General Grievous is in command now."

"That half-droid, half-creature abomination? Is he not dead by now?"

"Apparently not," Zeke added. "But I'd say the war is definitely going in our favor."

"The clones make sure of that," Barriss added.

Zeke nodded in acknowledgment. "The Supreme Chancellor keeps gaining more and more power, thanks to the Senate. Emergency war powers, mostly."

"To be given back when the war is over?"

"I don't know. But this can only be a good thing, right?"

"I have a bad feeling about that." Barriss sighed. "What's our mission, Commander?"

"We're to infiltrate the Separatist base and-"

"Wait." Barriss raised a hand. "Do you hear that?"

Zeke shook his head. "Wh-"

"Shh," Barriss hissed. She closed her eyes and reached out with the Force, enhancing her hearing.

"Roger, roger," she heard a battle droid say.

"Battle droids!" she whispered.

"Where are they coming from?" Zeke yelled.

Barriss winced and put her hands over her ears. "Not so loud," she groaned, before realizing that she was still using the Force to amplify sound. She withdrew from the Force, realizing that the clone had spoken in the same tone he always did. "Sorry."

"Where are the droids coming from?" Zeke repeated.

"Southeast," Barriss paled. "The direction of the village..." she scrambled to her feet and ran to the window as they heard the faint sound of blasterfire. "No!"

"We have to get out of here. My presence must have attracted attention," Zeke grabbed his duffel and pulled out his armor.

"We have to go help the village," Barriss announced. "They'll be slaughtered!"

"Better them than us!" Zeke began strapping on his armor.

"They've helped me _immeasurably_ for the last three months!" Barriss protested, near tears. "I can't just abandon them!"

"Jedi Offee, they will lead the droids in this direction!" Zeke put his helmet, and his voice took on that hollow, echoing quality. "I know they won't continue to protect you once the droids threaten them." His tone softened. "If it helps any, once they locate our position, they're unlikely to continue terrorizing the village." He pulled his blaster out of the duffel and tossed the bag to her. "Pack your things. We're leaving."

Barriss threw the receiver into the duffel. She also filled it with as much food as could be crammed in it. "Let's go," she ordered.

**A/N: you all can thank my best bud Samantha for this chapter. You would have been stuck with a very BoRiNg chap3 AND chap4 if it weren't for her. as always, I live for reviews.**


	4. Attempted Escape

**A/N: I'm off to Gettysburg for the next coupla days, so here's a chapter for what few reviewers I have. :)**

CHAPTER FOUR

TUTAKA ONE FOREST OUTSKIRTS

The characteristic hum of Trade Federation repulserlifts(sp?) invaded the quiet serenity of the rainforest. _BLAM!_ A tank fired a blast of energy at the trees to clear a path for the droids.

And so it began. Battle droids, Super Battle Droids, and droidekas were unleashed into the forest.

"Now remember, I want the Jedi captured _alive_," the Niemodian ordered via holo. "No disintegrations."

"Yes sir," the droid commander replied. "Send speeder droids," he ordered his subordinate.

Dozens of speeders zoomed into the forest, quickly surpassing the others droids on foot.

-xXx-

TUTAKA ONE FOREST

Branches snapped when Barriss shoved them out of the way as she ran. She stopped and leaned against a tree for a moment to catch her breath. The drone of speeder bikes was catching up.

"Jedi Offee!" Zeke shouted, running forward and throwing himself at her.

As they both crashed to the ground, a bombshell disintegrated the tree with a deafening roar.

Zeke covered her body with his own, hearing leaves and twigs pelting his armor. "Let's go!" he yelled, roughly grabbing her arm to propel her on.

"Do you have a name?" Barriss shouted.

"Isn't this a bad time for introductions?" Zeke looked back at her with a bewildered expression before realizing she couldn't see his face through the helmet.

"No time like the present!"

_Only a Jedi_, he thought. "I'm Zeke. Why?"

"Because I don't think we can't run any more." She stopped and looked around. "We're surrounded. They're pulling in the proverbial net. No matter which way we go we'll only be running closer to more droids."

"Then we'll punch a hole through that side and escape," Zeke said matter-of-factly.

"Not when the speeders have captured us."

"What?" Zeke looked around- just as a ring of speeders burst at them from all directions.

"Hands up, Jedi," the droid commanded.

Barriss slowly moved and pressed her back against Zeke's. "Wait for my signal, Zeke." she murmured. "Then shoot with everything you've got at the droids. Leave the speeders intact."

The clone nodded imperceptibly and readied his grip on his rifle even as he raised his hands into the air.

Barriss took a breath and slowly let it out as the droids began to draw nearer. "Go!" she shouted, extending her hands toward the droids.

A Force-wave knocked the droids off the speeders in front of her. Behind her Zeke's rifle stitched light blue blaster bolts across his droids. They rotated around, the Jedi knocking them down and the clone finishing them.

"Get on a speeder," she ordered. "Follow me."

Zeke clambered onto one and flicked the idling motor into full power. "Can you pilot one of these?" he yelled over the roar.

Barriss cocked her head to the side. "For your comfort and mine, let's say I have."

"Oh wonderful," Zeke gritted out.

The Jedi squeezed the handlebars gently and flew forward with a surprised yelp, almost falling off.

"_Fierfek_," Zeke cursed feelingly before following. "Lean _into_ your turns!" he yelled at her when he pulled even. "Slouch a little over the handles!"

"I'm trying!" she yelled back. "Damn thing's so bloody _fast_!"

Zeke allowed himself a grin. "That's the point of it all, ma'am."

"More speeders incoming," Barriss announced grimly.

Zeke couldn't hear her. A roaring filled his ears, and his fingers didn't respond to his control. The speeder shot forward by itself as he tumbled to the ground clutching his chest. This attack was worse than the one he had suffered back on the _Gemini's Fire_. He couldn't feel his extremities, any of them.

"Zeke!" Barriss cried, wheeling her speeder around as she sensed his pain through the Force.

"Jedi... Offee," he gasped. "Go!"

"I can't leave you!"

"Damn Jedi!" he yelled. "Just go!" Zeke tossed his head back and wailed. "You... can escape. You must... go _now_!"

His wayward speeder crashed into a tree.

Barriss gave him one more last look, then gunned her speeder and zoomed off.

Zeke couldn't breathe. At that moment he was sure he was going to die. He pulled off his helmet with twitching fingers in a vain effort to get more air to his struggling body. The scar burned like a blasterbolt across his torso. His lips were turning blue when he finally was able to gasp in a ragged breath. Just one before his chest tightened again.

Zeke's oxygen-deprived brain finally had enough, and he slumped into unconsciousness. Before he did, he heard the sound of whirring hydraulics as a platoon of droids approached.

Then he knew no more.

**A/N: yes, this would be the end of chapter four. Bad ending, I know, but I wanted to get this out onto ff. net before I leave this afternoon. I didn't get to check in with my Beta girl, Sammy Condo before I uploaded this, so if it's all full of typos, I apologize.**


	5. Sithspit!

CHAPTER FIVE...

TUTAKA ONE

A thunderclap exploded with all the noise of a crashing starship, and rain began to fall all over the forest. Stars embroidered on the dark fabric of night shone through the clouds in a true Tutakan rainstorm.

Barriss had always looked up and wondered at how the clouds were completely transparent. Not tonight. There were too many other important things on her mind.

Such as what to do now.

After Zeke had been captured (or killed) by the droids, she had zoomed off in search of somewhere to hide. As soon as she sensed another patrol of speeder droids pursuing, she had jumped off, allowing her speeder to crash into a thicket of trees.

She found a small cave a short while later. Masking the entrance with brush, she had hidden while a platoon of droids marched by.

Now, the forest was silent, and night had fallen along with the rain.

Barriss tossed a branch on the small fire in the middle of the cave and watched the shifting colors of the flames.

_When you don't know what to do, review past events that lead up to where you are now_, Master Luminara had told her more than once.

_I was assigned to Tutaka One three months ago. My mission was to keep an eye on the base and note any suspicious activity. A clone commando was assigned to tell me what our new mission is. Droids attacked before I found to what it is, so to learn the mission and finally get off this Maker-forsaken planet, I must..._

Barriss sighed. _Sithspit_.

She would have to rescue the clone. A clone that seemed to have physical and/or mental problems, judging from the way he fell off his speeder. Well, maybe she'd get to blow something up in the process.

**A/N: sorry about this tiny chapter, but I needed to do something where we find out where Barriss went. Even as I upload this I'll be working on chap6, where either I introduce some new characters, or we find out exactly what happened to Zeke when he fell. I'm really not sure yet.**


	6. Tales of the Bounty Hunters

CHAPTER SIX...

TUTAKA ONE SEPARATIST BASE

A small, round droid the size of a yenmelon hovered outside a door. It heard voices within and wisely decided to wait until there was a lull in the conversation. Somewhere in its small processor it realized that if it interrupted, either of the two being would blow it to bits without hesitation.

"You understand the risks involved?" the woman asked coldly.

"I do," a boy's voice answered, with a calmness more suited to an older man.

"And yet you are still prepared to take them?"

"I am."

"Why?"

"The potential profits outweigh the risk."

"It's always credits with you, isn't it?" The boy must have shrugged because the woman continued, "You trust these Separatist geneticists?"

"No more than you do."

Finally, the droid heard nothing and ventured to enter the room. "Gentlebeings, if I may have a moment?" it asked timidly.

The room was carved out of brown stone. Two sleep-couches hovering by one wall and a small food-processing unit by the other were the only adornments of the room.

The boy was standing with his arms crossed. He had dark, curly brown hair and a naturally tan complexion. His brown eyes were far more calculating and certain than a normal thirteen-year-old boy. One could tell when he looked at you, he was sizing up the best way to kill you.

The woman was tall, with pale skin and a shaved scalp. She wore a cold face that was as habitual to her as breathing. The plastoid armor she wore left her forearms and calves bare. At her waist she kept an energy whip coiled. "What do you want?" she demanded, striding forward and grabbing the droid.

It squeaked and almost powered down. "I-I have a message. From the, the, c-commander of this b-b-base."

The woman released the droid. "What does that sniveling little Niemodian want now? Isn't it enough that we informed him of the presence of the Jedi?"

The droid took that as a cue to play the message. It scurried as far away from the woman as politely possible and activated its holo-cam.

"My most esteemed of bounty hunters," the Niemodian started nervously. "As much as I hate to disturb your most reasonable and generous selves, you who grace my humble base with your charismatic and-"

"Get on with it," the woman ordered.

The Niemodian gulped. "We have c-captured something that will make the, uh, the-the, umm, the p-process p-p-possibly safer and greatly increase the odds of the subject's s-s-survival."

"What is this something?" the boy asked.

"One of the, um, the R-r-republic's clone troop- um, soldie- um, warriors, um-"

"Stop babbling," the woman said frostily. "Is the chamber ready?"

"Oh, yes, y-yes it is."

"And the clone?"

"H-hooked up to the, uh, the machine."

"I'm ready," the boy said, lifting his head to look the Niemodian square in the eye.

For some reason this seemed to unnerve the alien even more than the woman's gaze. "Y-y-yes, sir."

"I'd say this conversation is over." The boy smiled, and the Niemodian relaxed. Then he drew a blaster and shot the poor droid to sparking bits.

-xXx-

Zeke was trapped, both literally and figuratively. He was suspended in a pink energy field, and he swum in a mix of nightmares, memory, and reality. Sometimes they were so blended that he couldn't tell one from the other.

Technicians swarmed around him, smoothly changing from human and Niemodian in a room carved of brown stone to Kaminoan and droid operating in a white chamber. Was he on Kamino, or Tutaka One? How old was he?

The room changed again, and he knew he was on Geonosis. He ran on red sand dunes with his team and another, following the orders of Jedi Master Adi Gallia. Zeke shook his head. He was daydreaming during battle! That could get him killed!

He raised his rifle and fired at the droids ahead, hearing a pained cry as one of his comrades fell with a blaster bolt to the chest. Zeke knelt down next to him. "I need a medic over here, quick!" he yelled through his helmet. As soon as he saw one of the medical staff approaching, he sprinted to catch up with his team.

No matter how fast he ran, his team was always ahead of him. He kept running. "Blaze!" he cried. "Max, Apollo, wait!"

Suddenly, the rest were gone, disappeared. Only he, Master Gallia, and he team remained in the jungle. _(jungle? What jungle?)_ Zeke ran to catch up, and burst into a clearing.

Master Gallia turned and looked at his team, lightsaber still ignited. There was no sound but Zeke's own breathing in his helmet.

Blaze, Max, and Apollo raised their rifles as one and started to fire on Master Gallia. She screamed and used her saber to deflect the bolts.

"What are you doing?" Zeke yelled. He ran forward and fell into a hole that suddenly opened up before him.

He screamed as he fell, down, down, down into what seemed to be a mining shaft. Dark stone walls whizzed past him as he grabbed vainly for a handhold.

He fell with a thud onto a hard bed in a white room. A Kaminoan nurse leaned over him, liquid black eyes blinking calmly. His armor was gone. He was only wearing a soft, large red shirt and black pants. The Kaminoan leaned closer, and closer, and closer...

Zeke woke with a scream to find he was hooked up to a large silvery machine that had wires threaded into his every pore. He was in the brown room with the humans and the Niemodians again. His scar burned like fire, even worse than the rest of his skin.

A red Twi'lek woman walked among the swarm of beings. She passed _through_ a Niemodian technician with no resistance whatsoever.

"Jade," Zeke whispered, and she smiled. It was his training sergeant! She would save him!

Jade reached up and gently touched his cheek. Her cool touch was soothing against his hot skin.

Zeke fell into blackness.

-xXx-

The brown stone room was now empty except for an unconscious clone suspended in a pink energy field.

A modified MD droid rolled in on a single wheel. It took a needle from its tray and injected the clone with the fluid inside.

The clone woke with a scream. He calmed when he saw the room, and the droid.

"Do you know who you are?" the droid rasped.

"Yes."

"Tell me your name."

"My name," the clone said. "Is Boba Fett."

**A/N: O-o! Bet this chapter came straight outta left field!**


	7. The Story of a Spy

**A/N: very, VERY sorry I took so long! I've had massive writer's block for this chapter, plus the fact that I've been working on both 'Switch' and 'Boba Fett and the Holy Grail' which will be uploaded today.**

**Thanks for your patience! (If I still have anyone out there still reading this!)**

CHAPTER SEVEN...

TUTAKA ONE SEPARATIST BASE

The humidity felt like she was attempting to plow through a duracrete wall, but she refused to let that daunt her. She need an escape, any escape that could give her time to think; away from obnoxious Neimodians, haughty bounty hunters, and creepy scientists. So she ran along the perimeter of the base as dusky twilight began to settle.

She was Jader'hade, a Twi'lek covert operative stationed by the Republic to infiltrate the Separatist base on Tutaka One. She was of average height, weight, and build, with piercing violet eyes and deep red skin. Due to the cover she had been assigned as a blockade runner/smuggler, she was clad in black synth-leather. Her supple _lekku_ slapped against her back with every step she took.

Her briefing by Republic Intel had obviously been incomplete. Having been stationed here for two weeks, she still had had no knowledge of a Jedi being assigned here as well, nor the arrival of the commando. It seemed rather redundant to insert a Jedi, a clone, and a spy onto a hostile planet, and tell neither the Jedi, the clone, nor the spy of the other's presence.

As she ran, Jader'hade began to put the pieces together. The Separatists had been tipped off as to the presence of the Jedi. A clone was captured instead. Therefore, the Jedi and the commando must have been working together. But apparently the clone knew who she was; he had identified her by the familiar form of her name, 'Jade' while he had been tested.

And now came her predicament: she could either allow the clone to continue to be experimented on, break cover and smuggle him out on her ship, the _Blaze of Glory_, or attempt to contact the Jedi. None of these appealed to her at all. Before joining Republic Intel, she had been a sergeant on Kamino training Recon Commandos, _which is exactly what the captured man was_. She couldn't allow him to continue to be tested, or tortured, or whatever was going on in there with the scientists.

And then there were also the bounty hunters to put into the equation. The Sorrusian woman with the shaved scalp, Ona Nobis, and her... partner, the curly-haired teenager known as Boba Fett. Now there was a mystery: who is Boba Fett? He seemed to have just popped out from space-fabric and begun raking in bounties with Ona Nobis. He has the same last name as the late Jango Fett, but the appearance of a clone. Curious.

Jader'hade had no doubt that those two could break her cover as easily as her synth-leather boots crushed twigs beneath her feet.

Ona Nobis, though quite obviously a force to be reckoned with, somehow did not instill the same... dread... that young Fett did. The boy seemed far too sure of himself; not the cocky confidence most teenagers suffer from, but a cold, calculating assuredness. She had a feeling that this boy, this 'Boba Fett' would soon become a bounty hunter whose reputation would overshadow the late Jango Fett's.

The source of the humidity rapidly became apparent as rain thundered down from the transparent clouds above. With a start, the Twi'lek woman realized night had fallen. Cool water cascaded down her back as she stopped running and began to stretch.

Rather obnoxiously, her comlink when off at that moment. She briefly entertained the notion of plucking it from her belt and tossing it into the forest a few meters from the perimeter of the base, sighed, and activated it.

"Jader'hade," came a woman's voice, chilly and deprived of any emotion.

Jader'hade felt her _lekku_ shudder. "Nobis."

"Our vaunted," Ona Nobis's sarcasm rang through cleanly, "employer requests our presence."

Jader'hade sighed again and tucked the comlink back in her belt without replying, then turned around and began to jog back the way she had come.

-xXx-

Jader'hade felt like she was going to be sick. "You've brainwashed him to make him think he's Boba Fett?"

She, Ona Nobis, and Boba Fett were in a large room above the testing area. A large sheet of transparisteel embedded in the wall showed the scene below. The clone hung in an energy forcefield as a droid injected him with nutrients.

The Neimodian commander looked quite pleased with himself. "With the pure genetics of young Master Fett here," he nodded to the teenager. "We have been able to _brainwash_ as you put it, the clone. We are going to formulate it into a bio-weapon to be used against the Republic's armies."

"Sounds useless," Ona Nobis said.

"Ah, but that's the point!"

Jader'hade narrowed her eyes.

"You see, the Republic will be so busy trying to find an antidote for _this_ biological weapon, they will be completely blind to the _other_ weapon we're working on! It has been exported under great secrecy from the ruins of a base hit at the very beginning of the war. This bio-weapon will be far more powerful and be able to wipe out whole regiments of clones with this exact genetic make-up!"

"That's disgusting," Jader'hade gritted out.

"It's what we need to win the _war_," the Neimodian countered. "Are you starting to doubt Count Dooku's methods?"

"No. Of course not."

"Good. There will be a demonstration of the biological weapon tomorrow at 0100. You can leave now. Thank you for your time."

That settled it in Jader'hade's mind. She would break the clone out, attempt to contact the Jedi, and find a way to destroy the base.

One way or another.


	8. The Assault Begins

**A/N: sorry I took so long with this! I've had it written out for about two weeks, so this is the first time I've gotten to upload it. By the way, I got the inspiration in Philadelphia on Monday, August 14th at 12:30 in the morning because I was woken up by the LOUDEST thunderstorm I've ever heard! It was setting off _car alarms_ all over the city! **

**Oh, yes, I've been getting quite a few question about the time-frame. This takes place roughly... I suppose at the point this chapter is at, it's about two or three weeks before the Jedi Purge. **

CHAPTER EIGHT...

TUTAKA ONE SEPARATIST BASE

_Crash-BOOM!_ A loud explosion set off the air-raid sirens and perimeter alarms.

Jader'hade was instantly awake, reflexively grasping for her clothes and boots.

_Crash-BOOM!_ This one was even louder than the previous, and in her sleep-fogged mind, Jader'hade wondered why there wasn't an accompanying groundquake along with the explosions. Then the Twi'lek realized that it was just thunder. Extraordinarily _loud_ thunder. Apparently the technicians monitoring the alarms realized this also, and they were shut down.

_Crash-BOOM!_ The Twi'lek flinched as the thunder set off the alarms again. She sagged back onto her bed with every intention of going back to sleep, then jolted awake with a sudden thought.

With alarms going off every time there's a thunderclap, it would be relatively easy to sneak in.

_The Jedi!_ If he were within a kilometer of the base, he'd be able to hear the alarms going off.

The covert operative stood again and triggered the lights. She would be ready.

-xXx-

A dark form moved in an easy gait, covering distance to the base with every stride. She gave no heed to the rain, accepting and ignoring it. She had heard the alarms from as far away as the trees, and quickly understood their significance.

The clone was a necessary part of her mission, and so the clone must be rescued. It was that simple.

-xXx-

Droids compromised fully two-thirds of the perimeter patrol. The other third were sentient.

For a young Devaronian male, it was his first time as the night guard. He flinched at every thunderblast that caused his sensitive horns to ache. More than anything he wanted to go home, to Devaron. There were no unnatural storms like this on his homeworld. He hated the entire Tutaka System. He hated the sun the most. Tutaka Prime was far brighter than Devaron's sun, hurting his eyes. The Devish squinted and grimaced, exposing his sharp, but still small teeth in memory of the hated sun that would be rising in a few hours.

Suddenly, the light above him was blotted out by something, and the Devaronian looked up quickly before something landed hard on his back, driving him to the ground. Before he blacked out, he absently wondered if maybe he'd get shipped home for allowing an intruder to slip past him.

Barriss Offee landed in a crouch atop the fallen Devish, her unignited lightsaber held ready at the first sign that her insertion had caused undue attention, then quietly approached the nearby air vent.

The three months she had spent monitoring the base would now prove to be to her advantage. The base had primarily been a biological research station before occupation by the Separatists; therefore it was hermetically sealed to prevent any risk of an airborne bio-toxin escaping and infecting the planet. Without new air, the base would only be able to safely support itself for eight hours, so the vents had to be opened to bring fresh air into the complex. Every hour the vents were opened to allow the inflow of oxygen.

Right on time the vents hissed open, and Barriss braced herself against the outflow of air that preceded the new air being sucked in.

The pull was stronger than she had anticipated, and she was dragged forcefully into the air ducts. She bounced painfully down the dark silver ducts until finally, with a whir of machinery, the vents sealed closed.

Barriss continued tumbling however, and with a wail she plummeted down into the room directly below, landing on a rather surprised Sorrusian bounty hunter.

**A/N: Sorry for the short chapter, but I hope you liked it! I start my first year of high school tomorrow, so I don't really know how often I'll be able to update. :(**

**Thanx to everyone for reviewing, now... DO IT AGAIN!**


	9. And Fails

CHAPTER NINE...

TUTAKA ONE SEPARATIST BASE

Jader'hade finished strapping on her weaponry. The crimson-skinned Twi'lek checked the charge on her small pistol. Holding it up near her ear, she moved to the side of the door and slapped the control to open it, allowing the weapon to lead the way into the hall. A slight noise attracted her attention, and she spun around-

"Going somewhere, Jader'hade?" A casual Boba Fett leaned against the wall.

"I was planning on investigating the source of the alarms," Jader'hade lied quickly, feeling a half-imagined shiver of fear run down her spine. Did he know...?

"Really?" Fett looked amused. "And what if I don't believe you?"

The shiver of fear became a rod of ice. "That's not my problem, _boy_," she hissed.

"Oh, it will be," he answered softly. "After all, you are a spy for the Republic, are you not?"

Jader'hade snapped the pistol forward, level with the young bounty hunter's eyes. "That's a dangerous accusation, my friend," she whispered venomously, seeing no reason to pretend any longer. "In my line of work, that could get one... eliminated." Without further talk, she fired straight ahead-

Sparks exploded from the wall as the blaster bolt impacted against a holograph projector. Jader'hade instinctively covered her head, thinking furiously. _If that was a hologram, then the real Fett must be-_

She whirled around in time to see the rings of a blue stun bolt encompass her body. Jader'hade was unconscious before she hit the ground.

-xXx-

"A Jedi?" the woman with the shaved scalp looked surprised. "I didn't think your kind had the guts to infiltrate a base on your own."

"Yeah, well, we're full of surprises," Barriss Offee gasped, still slightly winded from the fall. Her lightsaber was held in a cautious guard, waiting for the other woman to make the first move.

"I don'tunderstand why you won't just surrender," the woman shrugged. "Seeing as how my partner will have already taken care of yours."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't play the part of an idiot, Jedi. You know full well of what I speak."

Barriss shrugged and subtly released one hand from the two-fisted grip she held on the lightsaber. The small wave of said hand produced far less subtle results.

The pale woman went flying backward from the Force-push. Barriss turned to escape through the room's only door-

to find her way blocked by a curly-haired teenager wielding a blaster. "Nighty-night," he said, and fired.

-xXx-

Zeke watched in despair as the limp bodies of Jader'hade and Barriss Offee were dragged into the room and roughly chained to the wall with iron manacles connected to the wall by heavy chains. Any chance of the binders looking antiquated vanished when the cuffs were encircled in energy, rendering them near inescapable.

Oh yes, Zeke knew who he was. He knew _exactly_ who he was. The effects of the attempted brainwashing had been temporary and wore off after about an hour. Silly scientists... Zeke was a clone of who had once debatably been the most dangerous and resilient man in the entire galaxy.

But something was different. Something had changed inside the clone's body, something that could barely be felt. Every time the commando tried to lay his proverbial finger on it, it slipped through his grasp.

But something was different. He could feel it.

-xXx-

With a groan, Barriss Offee woke to find herself chained to a wall by energy binders. She heard soft voices speaking, and she was able to identify one as Zeke. The other was undoubtedly female.

"Ah, Jedi, you're awake," came the female voice. Barriss looked to the side to find herself facing a similarly bound Twi'lek, with striking violet eyes and ruby skin.

"That remains to be seen," Barriss answered. "Where are we?" Her expression added an unspoken _'And who in the Nine Hells are you?'_ She looked across the room to find Zeke suspended in a pink energy field.

"You are in the main testing room of the Separatist base," the female answered. "Zeke assures me that you are trustworthy, Barriss Offee. I am Jader'hade, covert op for the Republic." She paused.

"She trained my team and I, back on Kamino," Zeke added, filling the gap in the conversation.

"Are there any escape routes?" Barriss asked, surveying the room herself. Struggling with the binders was fruitless, and she did not even attempt the act.

"We are most likely underground," Zeke said. That much was obvious, as the room was completely carved out of dark brown stone. It was completely empty of anything except the prisoners. "I've already calculated every possible plan of escape. Bound as we are, it would be impossible. Our best chance is to wait until one of us is taken for... interrogation, and make a break then."

"And how long will that take, approximately?" Barriss asked.

Zeke could only shrug. The conversation lapsed into silence, and the commando could not help thinking about the events that had led him to this planet.

Xankatra Four- a planet that would live on in infamy in the minds of clone troopers...

**A/N: I know, I've been gone for the longest time, and I apologize. If I have any readers still out there, REVIEW! I beg of y'all, review! Please! And now I'm sad, because this is the first time I've not been allowed to reply to my reviewers, which makes me sad. :( Anyway, if you do review, it will make me very happy, and happy authors make for good fanfiction! (Or something like that... hmmm...)**

**- Jade Rhade**


	10. Life of a Commando

**A/N: I hate not being able to reply to my reviews. Ah, well.**

CHAPTER TEN...

REPUBLIC DREADNOUGHT _EÄRENDIL'S FLAME_

_(one and one-half standard weeks earlier)_

"They bounce. That's not a good sign."

"What?"

"I mean, what're these things _made_ of that makes them bounce?"

"Max!"

"But Boss-"

"Just eat it already!"

"It smells funny..."

"It's just a ration cube. You've eaten them before."

"They normally don't bounce, Lead."

"Have you ever tried to bounce one before?"

"Well... no."

"So all of them probably bounce!"

"I dunno..."

A new voice entered the conversation, one that was raspier than the others'. "If I bounce one off your head, will that make you eat it?"

"Well..."

"Apollo, you're not helping."

"Sorry, Boss."

"Eat it, Max!"

"Okay."

Pause. "You will?"

"Yup."

"Then why all the...?"

"Because I love you, Lead."

-xXx-

_Gamma Squad_, thought Zeke with pride. _We're an elite force of the Grand Army of the Republic._

Apollo threw a ration cube at Max that bounced off the other commando's forehead.

_The elite force..._ Zeke shook his head. _We're doomed_.

He and the other three clone commandos of Gamma Squad sat in the center of their assigned quarters. Two military-style bunk beds were the room's only features in a clean, sterile metal finish.

RC-5390 picked up the thrown ration cube and tossed it casually back to Apollo. Max was the squad's demolitions man, and one could tell he enjoyed what he did. He was the heart of the commando team, always having the proper joke or curse as the situation warranted.

If Max was the heart, Apollo was definitely the soul. RC-5392 was a pure killer, and an excellent sniper. His throat had been damaged in the Geonosian arena in the beginning of the Wars, lending his voice the rough sound of rough stones rubbing against one another.

Blaze was team leader. RC-5389 received orders, assigned specific tasks and coordination of movement within a mission. He kept order and gave the team its purpose- to serve the GAR.

And then there was Zeke himself, RC-5391. His preference was slicing into enemy computer systems to determine information or to gain access to secured areas. He received communications while in mission and intercepted enemy transmissions.

Any of the commandos could perform any of the others' specialties, but were not as proficient. They had been given the same training, but due to differences in their initial environment, they tended to gravitate toward specific tasks.

Blaze tossed a datapad into the center of the ring in which the commandos were seated. "Xankatra Four."

"What about it, sir?" Max asked, taking a bite of a ration cube and grimacing at the bland taste.

"Our next assignment."

"Finally," Apollo rasped. "Delta Squad's been getting all the action."

Blaze shrugged at the mention of the other commando team. "They get the high-profile missions, we get the good stuff."

"Define 'good'." Max looked hopeful. "Lots of things go boom?"

"Sorry, Nine-Oh, this should be a quiet, in/out operation."

Max's face fell. "Oh well. Can't have everything."

Zeke laughed along with his brothers. _We are the GAR_, he thought. _We're as good as invincible_.

Or so he thought.

-xXx-

TUTAKA ONE SEPARATIST BASE

Jader'hade lifted her head. "Someone is coming."

Barriss frowned. Why hadn't she sensed their approach? She reached out with the Force and-

nothing? _Nothing!_ She gasped in fear, desperately trying to touch the Force in any way...

"What is it?" Jader'hade asked, exchanging a concerned look with Zeke.

The Niemodian commander of the base- Lloyd Dott, if she remembered correctly- entered, flanked by two Super Battle Droids. One had a strange furry creature attached to a nutrient frame strapped to its back...

"You _bastard!_" Barriss screamed, lunching forward in a vain attempt at attack. "_What have you done to me!_" Her chest heaved as she tried to break free of her restraints.

"You do not like my ysalamir?" Dott asked, stroking the animal. "My bounty hunter associates," he nodded to Boba Fett and Ona Nobis, "Imported it from Myrkr at great expense. You may find your Jedi powers of little use, my friend. A necessary condition, one that will make your stay here a bit more... compulsory, don't you think?"

"I don't believe you know how to _think_ at all," Barriss bit out, still straining against her bonds. "If I don't send out a message within a week, half the Republic _starfleet_ with be buzzing your door."

"Perfect!" Dott looked delighted. "I will use your vaunted fleet to send my agents to release the virus!"

"You said it was not yet completed," Jader'hade pointed out.

"I lied," he answered easily. "Young Fett here recognized you for what you were. We've been feeding you false information. The biological weapon _is_ quite complete, you see, as Count Dooku ordered us to develop a more, shall we say, long-term weapon of sabotage."

"What do you mean?" Jader'hade narrowed her eyes.

The Niemodian ignored her. "Tell me, clone, how do you feel?"

Zeke stared straight ahead, not acknowledging the query.

"What have you _done_ in your tests?" the Twi'lek demanded.

"Oh, Jader'hade, you have no idea. I have, quite literally, added _years_ to this clone's _life_!"

"How?"

"To put it crudely, my scientists discovered the gene that forces the bodies of Kaminoan clones to grow at twice the normal rate." Lloyd Dott shrugged. "They have neutralized this gene. Put the pieces together."

Jader'hade's eyes widened. "You plan to introduce this weapon into the Kaminoan cloning system!"

"Precisely!" Dott looked like he was beaming, though with a Niemodian's habitually dour expression it was difficult to tell. "Imagine how much time it will take to discover the deficiency, when their troops no longer grow at twice the normal rate! Just think how much _capital_ the Republic will lose!"

"You're disgusting," Barriss bit out. "These are people's _lives_-"

Dott shrugged. "They're only clones."

Zeke twitched. On impulse, Barriss looked over and saw a quietlysmoldering fire in Fett's eyes. _Interesting_.

"Oh, before I forget... Jader'hade, the Confederacy has a way of dealing with traitors," Dott gestured to one of the SBDs.

Barriss's eyes widened as the SBDs blaster arm extended into firing position. "No, wait!" she yelled. "She has information-"

The SBD fired twice, straight ahead. Jader'hade screamed. Barriss turned her head and felt warm droplets of blood spray the side of her face.

Dott shrugged. "Whatever information she may or may not have possessed is of no consequence now," he said confidently. "The Confederacy is quite strict in the elimination of intelligence units." He turned to leave, ordering the SBD with the ysalamir to stand guard by the door. "Do not attempt to escape, Jedi," he warned. "I would like to keep you as a hostage, but have no qualms about killing you or your clone companion."

"You need me," Zeke said, speaking for the first time since the Niemodian entered the room. "If you want me, she stays alive. You kill her, I have the discipline to shut down my heart. I will be of no use to your scientists dead."

"Oh, my dear clone, I actually do _not_ need you any longer. You've served your purpose- go on, kill yourself. I really need not trouble myself any longer until the Republic fleet arrives." Without further words, the commander left, the other SBD and the bounty hunters following him.

Barriss turned her head, trying not to look at the bloody carnage hanging beside her.

"She was a good person," Zeke said softly. "She taught me almost everything I know. She will be remembered."

Barriss nodded silently, breathing shallowly at the smell of singed hair and charred flesh.

"Is that true, what you said about the fleet?" Zeke asked. "My impression was that you were in deep cover."

"I am- was," Barriss corrected herself. "But I have been sending pulse-beam transmissions every week. The fleet should arrive... your presence here is proof of the fact."

Zeke looked puzzled.

"I know that I was not exiled- that the Jedi Council and the Supreme Chancellor assigned me here for a reason. I was beginning to have my doubts, but-"

"I wouldn't be too sure of that if I were you, Jedi Offee," said Zeke quietly. "For what use am I?" he whispered, more to himself than to Barriss. "I am a commando without a team."

­-xXx-

"That was... wasteful," Boba Fett said, walking in stride with the commander. "The Twi'lek may yet have had some use."

"Protocols are quite explicit, Master Fett. Spies are to be executed as soon as the opportunity presents itself."

"You may have been able to use her code to call in the Republic ships sooner," Fett stated. Personally, he knew the operative's code, but was under no obligation to tell his employer. If the Niemodian continued in such foolish behavior, the bounty hunter may soon be in search of another job.

"There is no need. They will come," Dott said.

"And if the Jedi was lying?"

"We shall see in a week."

Fett nodded. "In that case, I would like the rest of my payment now."

"Excuse me?"

"My payment. I want it now."

"Why, pray tell?"

"If anything... unfortunate should happen, I want to ensure I have received what I am due," Fett smiled thinly. "Is that a problem?"

Dott looked shaken. "No... of course not. And what of your partner, the lovely Ona Nobis? Will she be requiring her payment now as well?"

"Nobis may soon find herself in need of a new partner."

"Ah... I see. The credits will be sent to your personal account within a standard Time Part."

"Good. Efficiency is a virtue."

"Yes... yes, it is." Dott turned to say something, only to find that the ever-elusive Fett had seemingly disappeared into thin air. He shook his head. _Bounty hunters_.

**A/N: have nothing to say, except to thank Clone Trooper because he/she is the only person to review of his/her own free will (Had to get on the phone to make random-idiot-v2 read!). Not replying to reviews makes me sad. :( see? sad.**


	11. The War Drags Ever On And On

**A/N: I think this is quite obvious, but one of my betas suggested I put this, so- All Xankatra sections are FLASHBACKS, and HUD stands for Heads Up Display.**

**And remember: if you find a clone commando in your backyard, take your medication, spin around three times, and blink. If he is still there, check his number and please return him to me. Thank you for your time. This has been your public service announcement for today.**

**Did anyone notice my shameless Lord of the Rings mention? Eärendil? Anyone have the faintest clue who he is? _:Sigh:_ Ah, well. random-idiot-v2, at least you better have noticed it! I'll be very diappointed if you didn't...**

**right, I'll shut up now.**

CHAPTER ELEVEN...

TUTAKA ONE SEPARATIST BASE

Zeke and Barriss were silent as a cleaning droid hosed the remains of Jader'hade off the wall with a high-pressure spray. The bloody fluid and chunks of charred flesh flowed into a container attached to the droid.

"_You boys are on your own now,"_ she had told Gamma Squad as the prepared to board a dropship that would take them to battle. Zeke remembered it clearly- it was raining heavily as the four clone commandos gathered around the petite Twi'lek woman on the landing platform. _"The real fight is just as deadly as the Kaminoan simulators. But I have no doubts about your ability- you are one man, but the right man for the job!" _She clenched a fist in the air. _"In water you're born-"_

"_In fire we die!" the commandos finished._

Jader'hade had smiled, turned, and left. And that was the last they ever saw her.

And now she was dead.Another nameless, faceless casualty of the Clone Wars. Another corpse in the service of the Grand Army of the Republic.

Like Max.

Like Apollo.

Like Blaze.

Just... gone.

"Tell me about them," Barriss said softly.

Zeke looked up, startled. "Who?"

"Them. The men you led." She smiled sadly. "I may be unable to touch the Force, but I can still tell what you're thinking. You're as transparent as the rest of your..." she hesitated. "Brothers."

"Well ma'am, first thing is that I wasn't Lead. That was Blaze..."

XANKATRA FOUR

The four commandos jumped out of the hovering gunship to the ground below. They had been forced to put down roughly a kilometer away from the Republic outpost due to Separatist anti-aircraft weaponry. The dropship's repulsorlifts kicked up dirt, twigs, and small stones as it lifted off and headed back into space.

The commandos hoisted their DC-17s and prepared to move out. They walked in a diamond formation with Blaze leading, Zeke taking up the rear, and Max and Apollo on either side. Before leaving the gunship, each commando had downloaded an objective tracker to his visor's HUD that gave him a rough approximation of the outpost's location.

"Hey Lead?"

"Yeah Apollo?"

"Are we starting with zero kills, or do the kills from last mission still count?"

"Let's start from zero," Max suggested. He was still slightly annoyed that anything he blew up only counted as half a kill- consequently he had the lowest kill count of the team.

Apollo snorted. "I think _not_," he rasped. As a sniper, he had the highest kill count.

"We'll start from zero for this mission," Blaze said, eliciting a groan from Apollo, "then add them to the other kills."

Max sighed unhappily. "Fine, ruin my moment."

There was silence as the commandos of Gamma Squad refocused on their mission.

"Do you think this war will ever end?" Zeke asked quietly.

"What kind of question is that?" Blaze quickly glanced over his shoulder, the tilt of his helmet suggesting disbelief.

"I'm serious," Zeke said ernestly. "It can't go on forever. Eventually the GAR will crush the Separatists," (Of that no clone had any doubt), "but what then? Who will there be to fight that will compare to the immense chaos of the Clone Wars? The occasional terrorist group, or relatively small interplanetary war, but what about the GAR? Are we to grow old and die in the barracks, doing _nothing? _There is nothing that will ever compare to this war, so what will become of our brothers? Where will we go?"

"We will serve the GAR," Apollo rasped. "We always have, always will."

"To what purpose? After the war, what _point_ will the Grand Army of the Republic serve? _There will be no more missions for all of us_. Where will we all go? What will we _do?_"

An uncomfortable silence followed, broken only by the whistling sound of mortars overhead and the occasional groundquake accompanying a close hit.

-xXx-

Zeke stopped his narration, seeing that Barriss was weary. "You should rest. We may need all our strength for the coming days."

"This isn't exactly the ideal position for sleep," she replied, painfully shrugging shoulders that were sore from the constant strain of hanging from wrists attached to stone.

Zeke laughed bitterly. "We'll be here a while. You get used to it."

**A/N: replying with the review-reply service is a bitch and a half, so I'm not even attempting it. (Well, I attempted, and it pissed me off SOO bad...)**

**Anyways, apologies for the long time uploading and the short chapter. I'm working on chap12 while y'all are reading this, though! Hope you liked it, and please review!**

**One more thing, then I'll shut up. Thanks to everyone who returned after my long hiatus (did I spell that right?). Means a lot, thanks!**


	12. Because We Love You

**A/N: this is what I get for starting a story, stopping work, then trying to compete it almost six months later. There may be some rather glaring inconsistencies in these next few chapters, and that pisses me off like y'all cannot believe. (I'm a little obsessive-compulsive about consistency in fanfiction.) So have patience, and bear with me. Hopefully you won't notice them.**

**The Agonizer is of my own creation, by the way. Eighty-Nine is Blaze, Nine-Oh is Max, Nine-One is Zeke, and Ninety-Two is Apollo.**

**Another note... I didn't get to proofread this before I uploaded it, so put up w/ me during spelling mistakes ans such please.**

CHAPTER TWELVE...

TUTAKA ONE SEPARATIST BASE

A Neimodian in a white lab coat was pushing buttons on the control console in the opposite corner in the room Barriss and Zeke were being held.

"What have you got to eat around here? Barriss shouted across the room to him. "How dare your commander leave his most important guests waiting for dinner?" Time was impossible to count, as there were no windows or chronos anywhere in the room. Barriss was unsure how long she had been asleep, and one day blended into another.

The technician blinked at the Jedi, then returned to whatever he was doing. The pink energy field enveloping the commando disappeared, and Zeke fell hard to the stone floor, too weak to even attempt escape. While hanging in the forcefield, Zeke had been unable to correctly access his injuries. Now unsupported, he could feel the weakness in his body from the constant blood samples the scientists had taken from him over the last few days.

"Are you alright?" Barriss called to the commando.

"One... hundred... percent," the clone gasped in reply, rolling onto his back.

Barriss struggled against her bonds. "Let me down!" she cried. "I'm a healer; this man needs care!"

"I will have to clear that will Commander Dott, of course," the Neimodian answered nervously.

"Then go do that!" Barriss snapped, and the technician scurried away. "Blast, I _hate_ Neimodians!"

Zeke was curled in the fetal position as shocks of pain erupted along his scar at regular intervals. "I can't... breathe!" he gasped, vainly sucking for breath.

"Don't talk," Barriss ordered. "Conserve your strength."

Zeke breathed in as deep as he could and held it, though with each painful convulsion this grew more and more difficult.

The technician rushed back in and hurriedly slapped a few buttons. Barriss's chains snapped open, and the Jedi landed in a crouch and scrambled over to the struggling commando.

The Jedi healer tore off the commando's shirt and lay her palms on the wound. "Damn that ysalamir!" she cursed, again becoming aware of that creature's strange ability to push back the Force. "Where's my equipment?" she yelled at the hapless Neimodian. "He needs painkillers!"

"I don- do- don't know," the technician stuttered as with a last gasp Zeke ran out of stored air. With a squeak of fear, he ran off.

Perhaps it was only a hallucination, but Zeke could feel the Jedi's hands soothing the pain. Slowly, his chest loosened, and he took a deep, painful breath.

Barriss sighed in relief and laid her head down atop him, blue-black hair fanning across his chest. "Thank the Force," she murmured. For some inexplicable reason, this clone had come to mean a lot to her, and she did not want to face the Separatists on her own. "How did you get the scar?" she asked.

"Last mission," Zeke gasped. "The same one I was telling you about before."

-xXx-

XANKATRA FOUR

The four commandos stood in the briefing room of the Republic outpost. It was little more than a windowless, white room with a table and holoprojector. Jedi Master Aayla Secura stood opposite the team, seeming to be taking the measure of the commandos.

Zeke stared back unabashedly at the blue Twi'lek female, his helmet hiding his look. He had never seen any Twi'lek besides Sergeant Rhade, and he had never seen a Jedi dressed remotely like this. Her midriff and shoulders were bared, a tight-fitting brown leather top and brown pants a far cry from the conservative robes he had noted to be the norm for most Jedi.

Aayla met the eyes of Blaze, the only commando whose helmet was off. She held his gaze for several heartbeats, during which the commando straightened and matched her stare. She nodded once slowly, seemingly satisfied with whatever she saw.

Blaze took that as his cue to begin. "Before we came to this planet, Commando briefed us as to your situation. Our mission is to neutralize the enemy base in this sector and return you to Coruscant, General Secura. Nothing else could be spared from the war effort, so should we fail, expect no reinforcements. Due to the obvious lack of resources, our options are severely limited."

"Meaning we can't just call in an airstrike and nuke the place," Max added helpfully. "That would make a nice boom, though."

"Thank you for your input, Nine-Oh," Blaze said tiredly. "Our first objective is to disable the communications tower to keep the Separatists from sending out a distress signal. Our second objective is to destroy the anti-aircraft and long-range bombardment systems, our third to put the droid factory out of commission."

"Our last objective is to eliminate the Agonizer," Apollo finished.

The room seemed to become colder by several degrees. The Agonizer, General Grievous' second-in-command. A truly ruthless droid, he was known for torturing his victims before finally killing them.

"Many Jedi have gone up against the Agonizer and been slaughtered," Aayla said. "What makes you think you have any chance at defeating him at all?"

"Well, General, we _are_ clone commandos. All we have to do is smile. He'll be blinded by our devilish charm, and we will cut him to pieces," Max shrugged.

"He's never seen clone commandos before," Zeke added.

Blaze sighed and looked up at the ceiling, a perfect image of oh-Force-why-me.

"It's entirely possible," Apollo noted. "Seeing as how-"

"Enough!" Blaze put his head in his hands. "Are you sure you were decanted the same time I was?"

"We do have close numbers, sir," Max pointed out helpfully.

Blaze shook his head. "Can I give the rest of the briefing now?"

Zeke pretended to think about, then nodded. "You have my permission."

"_Thank_ you. Apologies, General."

Aayla smiled briefly. "It is no trouble."

"See?"

"Max!"

"Sorry, Boss."

"We have put together a plan for taking out the Agonizer," Blaze continued. "First, we will execute a coordinated attack on the key systems of the base. Nine-One will handle disabling all communications, while Nine-Oh sets the explosive charge at the base of the anti-aircraft turret and the ammunition stores. I will be taking care of the small droid foundry within the base, while Ninety-Two moves along the air ducts to track the Agonizer's position."

"Air ducts?" Apollo asked apprehensively. "You _do_ remember the last time you had us move in ventilation shafts, right sir?"

"And it was _actually_ a live power access tunnel-" Max reminded him.

"-that led to the garbage disposal?" Zeke finished. "You remember what the medics said after that one, right Lead?"

"First we got electricity burns, then attacked by a dianoga," Max said. "Do you remember how long it took me to get the smell off my armor?"

"Not that we've lost any faith in your leadership ability, sir," Apollo added quickly, seeing the look on Blaze's face.

"Good," he gritted out, then sighed again. "You'll never let me forget that, will you?"

"No," the other three answered in unison.

"But we'll still love you," Max reassured him. "Hug you when you have nightmares-"

"Hide cookies in your helmet," Zeke added.

"And stick ban'yanas in your blaster," Apollo finished.

Blaze covered his eyes with his hands. "While I'm sure General Secura is amused, we _do_ have to finish the briefing, correct?"

The commandos froze; they had forgotten about the Jedi Master. "We're sorry, General," Zeke said quickly. "We meant no disrespect-"

Aayla waved her head. "I said do not worry about it."

"Once everyone is in position, I will give the go-code that will signal the rest of the team to activate their wonderful explosions," Apollo continued in his sandpaper-on-rocks voice, picking up where Blaze had left off. "The rest of the team will rendezvous at my position (which is hopefully a _real_ air duct) where I have located the Agonizer. He will undoubtedly be aware of our presence by now-"

"Explosions tend to do that, Ninety-Two."

"Stow it, Max. We take out the Agonizer, evacuate the premises, then radio for the gunship that will take us back to the outpost, hopefully with you aboard, General. We will then rendezvous with a troop carrier in the outer system."

"_Jewel of Alderaan_," Zeke noted. "Very nice ship."

"We've been on her before," Max explained to Aayla.

"Any further questions?" Blaze asked.

"How can you be certain that the Agonizer will remain in the same place after you've 'activated your wonderful explosions'?" Aayla asked.

"Oh, did I forget that part?" Apollo asked.

"You did," Max affirmed.

"I will be sending a powerful electrical current through the door that will cause it to short-circuit and be inoperable. If the Agonizer even tries to force the door open, he'll be jolted back clear across the room," Apollo said this with grim satisfaction.

"I understand."

"Anything else? No? Good," Blaze doffed his helmet. "With your permission, General, we'll move out at 0400 tomorrow."

**A/N: this is the end because I started talking to I AM the random idiot on AIM, and plus I'm stuck w/ major writers block. PLEASE REVIEW! I PROMISE I'LL REPLY THIS TIME IF Y'ALL DO!**


	13. The Mask of the Mandalorian

CHAPTER THIRTEEN...

XANKATRA FOUR

Zeke sat on the roof of the small Republic outpost, cradling his battle-worn helmet in this lap. The sharp blue glow of the T-shaped visor had been shut off, and the only light came from the stars above. He had smeared a matte black substance called _ochre_ on his helmet and Katarn armor to absorb light and make him difficult to see in preparation for the mission tomorrow.

As he sat there, silent, one of the other planets in the Xankatra System drifted out from behind a cloud, bathing the roof in relatively bright light compared to the previous darkness. In the newly revealed illumination, Zeke could see part of his face reflected in the visor. For some reason this deeply disturbed him, and he quickly flipped the helm on its side.

Which was his real face?

The helmet of a clone commando, worn by few others. The man who wore it would never question his duty to the Grand Army of the Republic.

The visage of Jango Fett, and all of his clone 'children'? That half of Zeke's soul wanted to know something besides war, something beyond endless training and battle.

_You are a stupid _di'kut_, Zeke_, he thought to himself, shaking his head helplessly. _You're a part of the GAR; you should need nothing more._

A slight noise from the direction of the hatch leading down into the outpost caused Zeke to drop the helmet, roll onto his belly, and point his DC-15 sidearm pistol at the direction of the sound.

Jedi Master Aayla Secura leaped out of the hatch, lightsaber ignited. They faced each other, then laughed, putting away their respective weapons. "I did not know anyone else was up here," she said.

Zeke shrugged, embarrassed. "I can leave, General-"

"No, do not trouble yourself on my account. I like to watch the stars from here." The Twi'lek walked over and sat cross-legged on the roof next to Zeke. "There is no view so spectacular from Coruscant."

"Nor from Kamino, either," Zeke agreed. "The rain clouds hide everything."

"Sounds miserable," Aayla said, grinning at the commando.

"Occasionally." Zeke returned the smile, and the two sat in silence, watching the sky.

A comet soared overhead until it was blocked by a large cloud. "General?" Zeke hesitated. "May I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

Zeke stumbled over the beginnings of a few sentences, then blurted out; "What will happen to us clones if this war should end?"

"What do you mean?"

"There are more than a quarter million of us spread throughout the galaxy. When we are no longer needed, are we to be... terminated?" Zeke held his breath.

"The Jedi would never condone such action!" Aayla looked horrified. "Do you mean to tell me that such practice happened often on Kamino?"

Zeke nodded, surprised by the outburst.

"_Nothing_ like that will happen as long as there are Jedi in the galaxy," Aayla stated with conviction. "You have my word."

"Then it is true the wisdom of the Jedi is unequalled. Thank you, General." The commando stood and saluted. "Good night, ma'am." He grabbed his helmet from where it had fallen and dropped down the hatch.

Zeke crept back into the quarters shared by the team and lay carefully down on his bunk, breathing a silent sigh of relief. He had been concerned that the team would notice his absence and ask questions. Within minutes, he had fallen into deep, and now untroubled, sleep.

-xXx-

Unknown to Zeke, his absence had not been entirely unnoticed. RC 5389 had kept his breathing even as the other man had snuck back into the room. Blaze narrowed his eyes, and wondered what kind of trouble the always-questioning commando had gotten himself into this time.

He got up and traced the steps of the other soldier, eventually coming up on the roof, where a lone figure sat at the edge. "General Secura?" he asked, surprised. _What in death's name was Zeke up to now?_

"You're not the same man I was speaking with before," Aayla also sounded surprised. She turned and looked at him steadily. "You're the one who was giving the briefing."

"Ah... yes, that's correct, ma'am." Blaze blinked in astonishment, then remembered what he had gone up there for. "I came to apologize for any of my men having troubled you in any way-"

"There is no need. We had a very... interesting conversation. Tell me, who is he?"

"RC 5391," Blaze answered cautiously.

"I know you have names. Was that Max?"

_How did she... oh, yes, Max wouldn't shut his kriffing mouth_. The commando hesitated. The sharing of names was very private, meant only be disclosed to squad and Sergeant. But she was a Jedi, and Jedi were to be obeyed. "No, General. His name is... Zeke."

Aayla nodded. "And you?" Her eyes seemed to penetrate his very soul.

He ducked his head as if ashamed. "Blaze," he admitted softly.

The Twi'lek Jedi rose and walked close to him. Without even feeling it, Blaze tensed. Women scared him. The only ones he had ever seen were terrified civilians and the strange Kaminoans. Jader'hade had been a Twi'lek as well, and he remembered moments where her passion for life had been extremely... untamed. Unpredictable.

"You're just like men, aren't you," she said, more of a statement than a question, looking up to his face.

"What else would we be, General?"

Aayla nodded slowly. "What else, indeed," she murmured thoughtfully. She reached up and patted his shoulder, then turned and went back to where she had been sitting and looked at the stars.

Blaze took this as his cue to leave, but before he left, he took a quick glance up to see the stars himself. He shook his head and went down the hatch. Instead of having answers like Zeke, Blaze was only left with more questions. He shrugged and put it out of his mind. He'd have plenty of time to think about it when the mission was completed.

After all, Blaze had no way of knowing he wouldn't be coming back alive.


	14. Soul of the Guardian

**A/N: I apologize for the slow update time, I've recently gotten involved with the fandom _Fullmetal Alchemist_, which is an AMAZING show, btw, so... I'M SORRY! Here are my reasons:**

_**1. Fullmetal Alchemist**_

**2. My boyfriend broke up with me when I was finishing the next couple of chapters.**

**3. Finals**

**_4. FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST_!**

**Not to mention I broke two of my toes yesterday. :( Hurts like a bitch. It's times like this I _really_ wish I had my own personal Jedi Healer!**

CHAPTER FOURTEEN...

TUTAKA ONE SEPARATIST BASE

Boba Fett and Ona Nobis entered the room in which Barriss and Zeke were being held. "Moving day," the young boy announced, hand on the butt of his blaster. "Dott has finally come to his senses; you're going to the detention area."

"Yippee," Barriss said sarcastically. She rose to her feet smoothly, extending a hand to help Zeke up.

Fett drew his blaster and aimed it at the pair. "Separate," he ordered.

Zeke looked to Barriss for confirmation, receiving a small nod. She briefly squeezed his hand- _be ready_ was clearly written in her eyes.

The Jedi moved five paces away from the commando. "Happy?"

"Never," Boba answered coolly as Ona Nobis approached the clone to put energy binders around his wrists.

As soon as the Sorrusian bounty drew close enough, Zeke lunged and snapped her into a headlock. The surprised female compressed her skeletal structure, sliding from his grip and collapsing to the floor as if boneless. She rolled away and drew her blaster.

After a moment of shock, the commando was sent diving for cover by Nobis's blaster bolts.

Many things happened at the same time. Even before the female had squirmed her way out of the headlock, Barriss had darted forward and snatched the woman's energy whip from her hip. She cracked it once, sharply, pulling Fett's blaster from his grip. With a startled curse, the boy fell back.

Then the Super Battle Droid entered the fray; high-powered blaster shots blowing huge chunks out of the wall.

"Fierfek, fierfek, _fierfek_," Zeke panted as his cheek was gasped open by flying shards of rock. The female Jedi somersaulted in midair and dropped behind the cover of a terminal.

Fett again made his presence known as he reemerged in the doorway, spraying the room with blue energy bolts from Zeke's DC-17. The kickback from the weapon forced the young bounty hunter to lean back to keep the weapon aimed; unfortunately from Barriss and Zeke, the DeeCee was a very forgiving firearm, requiring very little skill to aim and fire.

And then something completely unexpected happened.

"Halt!" Nobis commanded her partner in an imperious tone that brooked no argument. Fett stopped firing and gaped at the female in astonishment.

Ona Nobis snarled. "I want this fight to be between the myself and the Jedi."

"Are you out of your kriffing _mind?_" Fett demanded. "This is no time for your petty grievances-"

"It is the perfect time. Fetch the Jedi her lightsaber." Nobis kept her gaze on Barriss. "I've been waiting forty years for this, I refuse to wait any longer."

Boba Fett nodded slowly. "I'll do this, but it signals the end of our partnership." The bounty hunter kept the DeeCee warily trained on the two Republic soldiers before disappearing from view behind the doorway.

Zeke took a deep breath, thanking the Force for the unexpected break. He looked across the room to Barriss, who was kneeling on the ground with her eyes closed, swaying gently back and forth.

She was preparing for what may be the most important battle of her entire life.

Zeke did not know the story of the Sorrusian bounty hunter Ona Nobis. How she had fought Obi-Wan Kenobi several times when he was a mere Padawan under the guidance of Master Qui-Gon Jinn. How finally Kenobi defeated her by knocking her off a rooftop on Belasco, where she had supposedly fallen to her death.

Ona Nobis remained in the shadows, disgraced by this Jedi called Kenobi, until she was approached by a young man.

Boba Fett, the son of the notorious Jango Fett. He offered partnership, and a chance for the female from Sorrus to gain back the reputation she had lost at the hands of the Jedi.

Zeke knew none of this. He only knew that some fringe scum had challenged a Jedi. The commando stood cautiously and walked slowly over to the Jedi, careful to keep his hands where the bounty hunter could see them. He crouched next to Barriss and put his hand on her shoulder.

Barriss's eyes blinked open, and Zeke felt her muscles become more relaxed.

"What do you want me to do?" Zeke asked quietly.

She shook her head. "Nothing. There is nothing you can do."

Zeke accepted this. He had to. She was Jedi.

Fett returned with a silver cylinder- Barriss's lightsaber. He tossed it to Nobis, who caught it and extended that hand toward Barriss. "Give me my whip," she ordered coolly. "And let the games begin."

Barriss stood calmly with all the grace of a sand panther approaching its unknowing prey. She stood in the center of the room, in the exact spot where Zeke had hung suspended and subjected to horrific experiments.

A single flick of the wrist sent the lightsaber flying through the air to clatter to a stop at Barriss's feet. She made no move to retrieve it. "Deactivate the droid," she said, glancing at the Super Battle Droid standing patiently in the doorway. "I have no wish to be shot in the back."

Ona Nobis took the measure of the other woman with her eyes, then nodded curtly. "Boba, the droid."

Fett shook his head in disbelief, but did as she said. The SBD let out a startled "What!" before powering down as the boy tripped the circuit breaker.

Barriss bent down and picked up the fallen lightsaber. She held the blade in one hand, and the whip in the other. After a moment's pause, the Jedi tossed the whip to the bounty hunter and ignited her indigo blade.

Ona Nobis activated her whip to laser mode, the weapon glowing red with a vicious barbed spike on the end.

Complete silence.

And then they struck.

The air filled with the harsh buzz of lasers and scorched ozone as the weapons collided.

The two seemed like complete opposites: Nobis had her lips pulled back over her teeth in a fierce snarl, while Barriss fought with a strange, calm detachment.

But even to Zeke, untrained in the subtleties of Jedi combat, it seemed as if Barriss were a bit... off, as it were.

Ona Nobis flipped backward, out of the lightsaber's range. Barriss lunged forward, batting the whip to the side, saber angled for the killing blow-

At the last second the Jedi dove away as Nobis pulled a vibroblade from its sheath, scoring Barriss's arm with a long but shallow cut. She hissed in pain, falling back under the two pronged assault. Faster than blinking the whip changed from laser mode to a regular whip. It wrapped around Barriss's ankle, roughly yanking her to the floor. The breath _whooshed_ out of her lungs, and Nobis immediately seized the opportunity, leaping forward and driving her knees between the Jedi's breasts, pinning her to the floor.

Barriss gasped as the other woman's knee slammed into her chest, feeling the cold metal of the vibroblade slide against her throat, and in that moment, she knew she was going to die. She felt the cold slitherings of fear turn her blood to ice. _There is no death- there is the Force_ says the Jedi Code, but what if one dies within the Force-less bubble of an ysalamir?

It is a testament to Barriss's own personal courage that she refused to let fear daunt her. She raised her chin, affixing Nobis with her most penetrating glare, and prepared for the end.

"I've been waiting a long time for the opportunity to slaughter a Jedi," Nobis hissed coldly. "Maybe Kenobi will feel your death through your vaunted Force and know pain!" The blade nicked her throat, and one small drop of blood trickled down her neck.

"Get on with it," Fett ordered, and for one critical second, the blaster was no longer pointed directly at Zeke.

The commando drew a plan and prepared to execute it all in the matter of a nanosecond. He ran from behind the terminal, adrenaline pumping in his veins, previous weakness forgotten.

Zeke headed straight for the ysalamir atop the deactivated Super Battle Droid.

A startled cruse flew from Nobis's lips, and she cracked her whip at Zeke. The spiked ball on the end caught him in the shoulder, tearing a wicked gash through his skin, but he was already there. Zeke grabbed the furry creature, pulled it off its frame, and snapped its neck.

With a surprised gasp, Barriss felt as though a light had clicked on in a formerly dark room. Power surged in her limbs, banishing the fear.

The Force was with her again.

With an almost casual wave of her hand, the Jedi allowed the Force to channel through her outstretched palm.

Nobis flew backward, her delayed strike with the vibroblade only slitting open the front of Barriss's navy-blue jumpsuit. The Jedi's indigo eyes flashed with a sudden flame, and she pressed the attack, blade moving in perfect accompaniment to the bounty hunter's laser whip.

With a few seemingly effortless strikes, Barriss knocked Ona Nobis to her knees, the handgrip of the whip laying on the stone floor, neatly sliced in two. The above lights made the bounty hunter's shaved head gleam as she stared back in unabashed hatred of the Jedi standing over her.

The Force sang through Barriss, moving her lips for her. "Do you yield?"

Ona Nobis peeled her lips away from her teeth and spat on the ground. "Kill me, Jedi weakling. When you die, I'll be waiting for you in hell! Remember that!"

The lightsaber wavered. It was against the Jedi Code to kill an unarmed prisoner, but this woman was clearly too dangerous to be left alive...

For better or for worse, the choice was abruptly taken from her as the blue rings of a stunbolt washed over her. Barriss was able to turn and see Fett holding the blaster, Zeke twitching on the ground near him.

And then all questions of the morality of the Jedi Code were swept from her mind as she collapsed to the hard stone floor in a deep sleep.

**A/N: Well, if there's anyone out there still reading this, I honestly don't know when I'll be uploading the next chapter. If you review, odds are it will be sooner rather than later. If you happen to like the show and/or manga _Fullmetal Alchemist_, check out my stories! See y'all round!**


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